Hera was a wonderful woman. She once walked along the shore, and she wanted to drink milk. But no one from the nearby town recognized the goddess, and all but one resident refused her. Wow, and Hera got angry at everyone and told this woman to urgently leave the city. She managed to warn her acquaintances, and everyone got out of there before Hera flooded the city in anger ...
It's a fairy tale, and at the bottom of the Blue Lake near Loutraki, divers really find the remains of an ancient city.

Actually, Blue Lake is not a lake at all, but an estuary, a bay that is connected by a narrow strait with the sea.

The water there is always calm, clean, and many people go there to swim if there are waves and wind in Loutraki. This year, jellyfish often appear in Loutraki, which has never happened before.

You can get to the lake by car on your own, but the roads here terrify me. The so-called highway can start with perfect black asphalt with bright markings, and then go into a narrow serpentine without any sides. In addition, there are so many beautiful local paths along the sea that no navigator will tell about, that it is better, of course, to find someone local who will take, show and tell. And so we did.

We were taken there through Perachora - this is a small town on a mountain, which can be reached by a regular bus, a kind of center of a mountain civilization. It was the capital of Greece for exactly one day, so while resting in Loutraki, you can visit as many as 3 capitals - Athens, Nafplion and Perachora.
We did not stay there, but from the interesting things in it you can visit the factory olive oil Georgiou, whose shop is located in Loutraki near Galaxias and our butcher's at st. M. Alexandru. http://kallielaion.gr/ They also produce and sell local soap, honey, wine and all kinds of olives.

There are several restaurants on the Blue Lake, there are sun loungers with umbrellas, and at 10 in the morning it is amazingly quiet.

You can drive by car from both sides, but there is no bridge across the strait.

Near the strait there is a small white-and-blue church, which is traditional for Greece.

2 km from the Blue Lake is the Temple of Hera, 9-2 centuries BC.

It is located on the very promontory, in a cove next to the lighthouse.

There is also a small church upstairs.

And as soon as we arrived there, we realized that this is the very place! Just as Ancient Corinth is the seat of culture here, Heraion is an ideal place for swimming.

The beautiful blue sea, bays among the ledges of the mountains, where you can swim and climb up, around the fish, hedgehogs and shells on the rocks. Swimming slippers and a mask with a snorkel are a must.

Since this is a cape, then on the one hand it is our Gulf of Corinth, and on the other - an exit to the sea. There is no equipped beach there, in fact, as well as from the side of Gera, but if you wish, you can go down there without any problems in comfortable shoes and relax completely alone.

You can swim around the entire cape with a lighthouse and find yourself in the open sea, you can jump from two rocks into the water - the depth is sufficient, and the height of the launch pad is from a couple of meters to 7-8m. In general, divers and bathers like us have a lot of freedom.

You need to come there with an umbrella, food, sun loungers and spend the whole day admiring the sun setting just somewhere there.

We were driven back along the sea. This is an adventure for an untrained driver, but the view is wonderful. We drove by children's camp and the most beautiful beach, which is very popular with local residents, there is a rather gentle entrance and there are no strong waves, which we, upon returning, were surprised to find in Loutraki.

In general, the Temple of Hera and the Blue Lake are not at all what you need to see along with the strait and the monastery on a bus tour. You have to go there to enjoy swimming and nature, but, of course, it is advisable to find a cheaper option than a local taxi.

April 25th, 2013, 01:03 am

The Corinth Canal is located on the Corinthian Peninsula, which connects the Peloponnese with the Greek mainland. The canal connects the Corinthian Gulf of the Ionian Sea with the Sardonic Gulf of the Aegean. Since the city of Loutraki, where we were to spend 6 days, is located just on the Isthmus of Corinth, we could not deny ourselves the pleasure of admiring this creation of human hands.

But before talking about the channel, a little about Loutraki.

Loutraki is a resort town well known in Greece for its mineral springs. The very name of the city, Loutraki, comes from the Greek word Λουτρά, which means “healing baths”.

By chemical composition and the effectiveness of the impact of Loutraki water is practically not inferior to the famous Vichy springs. There is a lot of magnesium and sodium in the water, but at the same time it tastes good and can be drunk directly from the tap. Water diet and physiotherapy are used to treat cardiovascular pathologies, nervous systems and gastrointestinal tract, liver failure, as well as skin, gynecological diseases and joint diseases.

Pitchers of water were always in the hotel restaurant where we had breakfast and dinner.

The city is surrounded by mountains, located on the shores of the Gulf of Corinth.

In 1928, it was completely destroyed by an earthquake, like Corinth, located 4 km from it, but completely restored.

We arrived in Loutraki in the evening, planned a trip to the canal for the coming day, but first I wanted to see the city. In the morning it was raining, which was a little upsetting, but the weather soon cleared up, and in the future it only made us happy.

01. The umbrellas on the beach are sad :))

In the distance, on the mountain, you can see the monastery of St. Patapia. I have not been there, but they say there are wonderful views of the city from there.

04. We go along the embankment

05. Past the city park

06. Sea and mountains - what else do you need to be happy on vacation?

07. Waterfall (man-made, not natural)

08.Eucalyptus

09. and graffiti on them

11 waterfall again

18. It turned out to be good. The sea turned blue and gentle.

The sea in Loutraki is very pleasant, except for one thing ... The pebble beach is my death :)) I go into it, no, I crawl, like a crab :)) On all four limbs :)) And of course, I'm not talking about beach slippers I thought. On the beach I saw that almost everyone was wearing slippers. Nearby were two women in identical slippers. I asked where they bought them. It turned out that one had brought it from home, from Siberia, and the other, exactly the same, had bought here, in Loutraki. So funny: where is Siberia, and where is Loutraki - and the slippers are sold the same :)) The next day, right in the morning, I went to buy slippers :))

But I was distracted ... There is a bus from Loutraki to Corinth, just past the canal. But we are not looking for easy ways, give us difficulties! We went on foot. About 3 - 4 kilometers to the canal. The road to the canal is uninteresting, there is still nothing around the city, and then fences, wire fences, some strategic objects. But we got there.

As I said, the channel connects the gulfs of the Aegean and Ionian Seas. Its length is 6.4 km, width is 21 meters, depth is 8 meters. The banks are framed by cliffs up to 63 meters high in places. The dream of a canal originated in the minds of sailors in antiquity, BC, because when sailing between the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic, it was necessary to sail 185 nautical miles by sea.

The first to speak about the need for such a channel was Periander, the tyrant of Corinth in 602 BC. But such a large-scale project was beyond the technical capabilities of those times, because Periander implemented another project, when ships were rolled from one sea to another on a special stone road on wheeled platforms.

Julius Caesar and other rulers thought about building a canal, but the technical possibilities hindered these plans. The most serious attempt was made by the Emperor Nero in 67 AD. He had 6,000 slaves at his disposal, and the emperor himself was the first to begin work, hollowing out the rock with a golden pickaxe. But with his murder, work stopped, almost never started.

And only in the 19th century, the plan for the construction of the canal was realized. The operation of the canal began in 1893.

Several bridges have been laid through the canal: one is a drawbridge, the road between Loutraki and Corinth passes through it, the other, as I understand it, is the main one, connecting the Peloponnese with Attica, and another not used, we will reach it in today's hike.

So, having overcome several kilometers in the heat, we got to the drawbridge Or rather, it is not a drawbridge, I don’t know what this structure is called. Part of the bridge is lowered into the water and ships sail through the opened space.

20. We came to the bridge just at such a moment.

23. middle part the bridge rises

24 and traffic on it is restored

25. The rising part is wet and slippery. In the middle there is a path for pedestrians, along the edges for transport.

26. We planned to go to that bridge in the form of an arc. And at the top right in the photo is the path along which we will go.

27. The beginning of the path.

29. The bridge is left behind.

30. Olive groves at every turn.

31. The water in the channel is of amazing color.

32. The banks are not very high yet.

33. Some amazingly decorative thorns

36. Some kind of farm got caught on the way.

37. Curious goat :))

38. "Our" bridge is already far away

39 The Shores Are Already High

40. And now there is an already outlined goal ahead

41. We are in the middle of the Corinth Canal. One way look - there is the Aegean Sea

42 to the other - Ionian.

43. On the bridge. Tired, a little burnt in the sun, but happy :))

45. The banks of the channel are composed of natural rocks.

47. A boat with tourists sails from the Aegean Sea

49 and sails to the Ionian.

View of Loutraki and the monastery of the Prophet Elijah. There are only seven monasteries in the Loutraki area.

This must be taken into account if your choice fell on a trip to Loutraki. But the main thing that surprised us was the people! Cretans are nothing like mainland Greeks Greece ! The Cretans seemed to us cheerful, welcoming, and the Greeks of the mainland, as they are called by the Pontians, are more like our Caucasian nationalities in their arrogance. But this did not stop us from having a good rest! We have successfully combined sightseeing trips around the Peloponnese and Attica with a beach holiday. The beach in Loutraki is urban, pebbly, and has a blue flag.

In Loutraki, the sea is very clean.

The sea is clean, the waves are not big (or we were just lucky that it was not stormy). But there is one geographic feature, which must be taken into account when choosing a holiday in Loutraki: at times the wind blowing from the sea is possible, since this town is located on the coast between the mountains. Otherwise, everything is typical for Greece: an abundance of taverns on the waterfront, a bunch of shops on the main street.

There are many taverns and hotels along the promenade.

The town itself is cozy with an abundance of fountains, with a free source of mineral water in the city park. And mineral water is served free of charge in all taverns in Loutraki. So that we not only had a good rest, but also received medical treatment with mineral water!

Loutraki is the crossroads of sightseeing roads.
Do you want to relax in Greece by the sea and at the same time travel on excursions in the Peloponnese and Attica? Then you just need to opt for Loutraki! Loutraki is a small Greek town located six kilometers from the Corinth Canal, on the shores of the Corinthian Gulf, with a long tradition of a resort town. This is a Greek national health resort.

Mineral water flows from one side of this spring, from the other it is ordinary.

Only in this town does mineral water flow from the tap. In the local park there is a free source of mineral water, and in any tavern, water is served free of charge! It is here that you can combine three types of recreation at the same time: this is a seaside vacation (the beach has a Blue Flag), this is a treatment with mineral waters (there is a local spa with radon baths, etc.), as well as an active excursion vacation! Now in more detail about the excursion opportunities: there are several options.

Firstly, you can use the services of the host and travel by sightseeing buses throughout the Peloponnese and Attica: these are excursions in Argolis (including Mycenae, Epidaurus, Napflion), to Old Corinth, in Olympia and Patras, to Athens (including a visit to the Acropolis), to Delphi and Meteora , to the Monastery of St. Potapius and Lake Vouliagmeni (closest excursion). Secondly, you can do the same thing yourself by renting a car (many attractions are within 2-3 hours of driving). And thirdly, you can use local transport, bus or train. For example, a bus trip from Loutraki to Athens takes no more than 1 hour and 10 minutes, while in Moscow, for example, during this time you may not have time to get from one end to the other. This gives a great opportunity for travel lovers to get to many cities in Greece without resorting to car rental. from the bus station in Athens, you can already get to almost any city in Greece, of course, its mainland!

Where to eat in Loutraki.

There are no problems with food in Loutraki, as well as in all of Greece! Taverns are located not only on the embankment, there are an abundance of small cafes and on the main street of the town. Wherever we dined, they served large (which is typical for all of Greece) and very tasty portions. One dish is enough for two! Therefore, in our opinion, it is possible to include only breakfast in the hotel meals, especially since there are two fairly large (by Greek standards) supermarkets in the town, where you can buy the necessary products. There is a fruit and vegetable market on one of the streets twice a week, although fresh fruits and vegetables can be bought in several shops located on the main street. As a result, we have only one a big problem- in which tavern to dine and in which cafe to eat ice cream? It is difficult to choose from the abundance available!

Enjoy your holiday in Greece!

A group of Loutraki divers have announced that there is an increased presence of jellyfish in the Greek seas this year, especially in the Gulf of Corinth. The reasons for this are different: both climatic conditions in the form of high water temperatures and excessive fishing, which reduces the number of natural enemies of jellyfish - dolphins, tuna, mackerel, whales, turtles, etc.

According to the group, there are two species of jellyfish in the seas: Pelagia (pelagia nuctiluca) and Cotiloriza (cotylorhiza turberculata). Of these two species, only the first is characterized by a jellyfish. Its tentacles can reach 5 meters, and the touch is especially painful for humans.

Prevention and treatment

• Remove any remaining parts of the tentacles of the jellyfish, but not with your bare hands, as they will simply stick to your hands and, therefore, transfer skin irritation to your hands. Use the sand, rubbing it into the part of the body where the tentacles of the jellyfish remain, as if you are doing a peeling.
• Apply ice or cold compresses to the bite to reduce localized swelling.
• Rub a cortisone cream on the affected area to reduce inflammation and quickly relieve burning and itching. If this cream is not available, apply diluted vinegar compresses (1 part vinegar to 3 parts water).
• Finally, if the area of ​​the burn is large, take an antihistamine pill. The larger the burn, the higher the need to take this medication.

If the pills and cream did not work, go to ambulance for a shot of cortisone.

Jellyfish are a key link in the food chain of marine species. They consume plankton and they are eaten by fish. Outside sea ​​waters jellyfish becomes a pollutant of the environment and air. Never take jellyfish out of the water to the shore.